Natural language meta-search system and method

ABSTRACT

A meta search system accepts natural language queries which are parsed to extract relevant content, this relevant content being formed into queries suitable for each of a selected number of search engines and being transmitted thereto. The results from the search engines are received and examined and a selected number of the information sources represented therein are obtained. These obtained information sources are then examined to rank their relevance to the extracted relevant content and the portions of interest in each of these ranked information sources are determined. The determined portions are output to the user in ranked order, having first been processed to clean up the portions to include valid formatting and complete paragraphs and/or sentences.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method of processingqueries for information. More specifically, the present inventionrelates to a meta-search system and method for accepting a naturallanguage query which is processed to retrieve information from one ormore information sources via at least one search engine and to extractrelevant portions of those information sources for output to theoriginator of the query.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods for locating information in databases are known. Anarea in which such systems and methods have recently become quite commonand heavily used is in searching for information on the World Wide Web(WWW) and/or on other internet sources.

Typically, an internet user will access a search engine, such asAltaVista or Yahoo through a web page maintained for that purpose by thehost of the search engine and will input search data relating to theinformation sought into the search engine. The search data can, forexample, comprise keywords or phrases related to the information soughtand boolean operators to further qualify the search. Examples of suchsearch data are, "AZT and Toxicity", wherein AZT is one keyword,Toxicity is another and the `and` is boolean operator requiring bothkeywords to be present in the information source for it to be considereda match.

Once search data is input, the search engine then consults one or moreindices it maintains of web pages or other information sources thatmatch the search data. A listing of the information sources that matchthe search data, often referred to as "hits", is then displayed to theuser, the number of matches usually being limited to some predefinedmaximum number. These matches are typically ranked, usually according tothe number of occurrences of keywords or phrases in the informationsource. Generally, the information which is displayed to the user foreach match comprises a location at which the document can be accessed (aURL for a WWW document) and some minimal additional information such asa document title, etc.

Generally, such search engines provide a skilled user with reasonableresults from well defined and/or homogeneous databases or otherinformation sources. For example, the APS U.S. Patent database can beefficiently searched based on the contents of well-defined informationfields, such as Patent Number, inventor Name, etc. to locate informationsought.

However, while such search engines can generally provide a skilled userwith reasonable results from such well defined and/or homogeneousdatabases, they do suffer from disadvantages. Specifically, whensearching databases or information sources which are not homogeneous orwell defined, such as the WWW and/or internet, even the best formedsearch strategy can result in a hundred or more matches, many of whichare not useful to the user but which must still be reviewed by the user,to at least some extent, to determine this. Further, such search enginesgenerally require the user to understand and be comfortable with booleantype searches and are limited to this type of search operation.

To enhance the chances that the desired information will in fact belocated, a user will often perform the same search on multiple searchengines thus exacerbating the number of matches which must be reviewedby the user. The use of more than one search engine can also require theuser to redraft his search data to accommodate different search datarequirements and/or capabilities of the different search engines. Forexample, some search engines may only allow keyword-based searches whileothers may permit searching based upon phrases.

These difficulties often result in the less skilled user not obtainingacceptable search results without multiple and/or recursive searchattempts, which has led many users to adopt the interactive searchtechnique commonly referred to as, "surfing the web" which, while oftenentertaining and/or informative, can be time consuming and may still notlocate the desired information.

Natural Language Query (NLQ) systems are also known and are used for avariety of purposes. Generally, a NLQ system accepts a search sentenceor phrase in common everyday (natural) language and parses the inputsentence or phrase in an attempt to extract meaning from it. Forexample, a natural language search phrase used with a company'sfinancial database may be "Give me a list of the fourth quarter generalledger expense accounts." This sentence will be processed by the NLQsystem to determine the information required by the user which is thenretrieved from the financial database as necessary. However, such NLQsystems are computationally expensive to operate as the processingrequired to determine the meaning of a sentence or phrase issignificant. Further, such systems are generally limited in terms of thescope of the information which they can access. For example, a differentNLQ system is likely required to correctly process queries relating to acompany's financial information than is required to search a medicaldatabase of obscure diseases. Also, such NLQ systems generally onlyproduce acceptable results with well defined and/or homogeneousdatabases.

It is desired to have a meta-search engine which will accept naturallanguage search data to search for information from one or moreinformation sources which need not be homogeneous or well defined, themeta-search engine would identify portions of the matching informationwhich it determines to be relevant to the search data and would displayat least those determined portions to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel meta-searchsystem and method for obtaining information relevant to a naturallanguage query from a plurality of information sources which obviates ormitigates at least one disadvantage of the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of locating information in at least one information source,comprising the steps of:

(i) accepting a natural language query describing desired information;

(ii) parsing said natural language query to extract terms relevant tosaid desired information;

(iii) creating search data from said extracted terms in an formappropriate to each of said at least one search engines and transferringsaid created search data thereto to initiating a search;

(iv) receiving results comprising at least a list of information sourcesfrom each of said at least one search engines and removing redundanciestherefrom to obtain a reduced list of information sources;

(v) retrieving complete copies of each information source in saidreduced list;

(vi) examining each said retrieved complete copy relative to saidextracted terms to determine a match ranking therefor and to identifyrelevant portions of said information source; and

(vii) providing said identified relevant portions to said user in orderof said determined rankings.

Preferably, at least two search engines are employed. Also preferably,the extraction of relevant terms by the natural language parser includesadding terms which are alternatives and/or synonyms to terms directlyextracted from the natural language query. Also preferably, the relevantportions provided to the user are at least complete paragraphs ofinformation.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda meta-search system comprising:

a natural language query processor to produce a set of relevant termsfrom a natural language query;

a meta-search engine means to communicate with said at least one searchengine, to form from said relevant terms a search data set for each saidat least one search engine which is in a format defined for said atleast one search engine and to receive search results from said at leastone search engine;

filter means to remove redundancies from said received search results toproduce a reduced list of identified information sources;

information retrieval means to retrieve said identified informationsources;

selection means to examine each information source retrieved by saidinformation retrieval means and to rank each said information sourcerelative to said set of relevant terms and to identify portions of saideach said information source relevant to said extracted terms; and

output means to provide said user with said identified portions in orderof said ranking.

Preferably, at least two search engines are employed. Also preferably,the extraction of relevant terms by the natural language query processorincludes adding terms which are alternatives and/or synonyms to termsdirectly extracted from the natural language query. Also preferably, theidentified portions output to the user are at least complete paragraphsof information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, byway of example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a meta-search system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a natural language queryprocessor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of a classification step of thenatural language query processor of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4a through 4e show schematic representations of a manipulationstep of the natural language query processor of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 5, 5a and 5b show schematic representations of a meta searchengine in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6, 6a, 6b and 6c show schematic representations of a selector inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic representation of an HTML clean up step in theselector of FIGS. 6, 6a, 6b and 6c; and

FIG. 8 shows a schematic representation of a text clean up step in theselector of FIGS. 6, 6a, 6b and 6c.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a meta-search system 20 in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. As used herein, the term "meta-search" systemand/or method is intended to comprise a search system and/or methodwhich acts between a user and one or more search engines. As describedbelow, the meta-search system can accept a natural language query,extract relevant terms and/or phrases from that query to produce searchqueries appropriate to each of one or more search engines. Themeta-search system has one or more of these search engines process asearch query or queries to provide the meta-search system with a list of`hits`. The meta-search engine accumulates these hits and examines themto remove redundancies. A copy of the complete information source isretrieved for a pre-selected number of the non-redundant hits and thesecopies are examined by the meta-search engine to determine a ranking foreach information source and to determine the portions of the informationsource which relate to the extracted relevant terms. These portions areoutput to the user, in ranked order, as the results of the search.

As shown in FIG. 1, system 20 includes a Natural Language QueryProcessor 24 which is operable to receive Natural Language Search Data28 and to extract relevant terms and/or phrases therefrom. Specifically,search data 28 can comprise one or more complete or incomplete sentenceswhich processor 24 parses.

Referring to FIG. 2, the parsing process 100 employed by processor 24 isshown. At step 104, search data 28 is accepted and processed to removepunctuation. At step 108, groups (words and/or phrases) are classifiedaccording to a preselected classification scheme. Next, the classifiedgroups are manipulated at step 112 to obtain a list of extractedrelevant terms and this list is expanded, at step 116, to convert groupsof less common phrases into more common phrases.

Specifically, at step 104 search data 28 is examined to remove alltrailing punctuation, such as "?", "!" and ".", including any of theseappearing before a closing single or double quotation mark. Next, allcommas, colons, semi-colons are removed and any "abandoned" punctuation,defined by spaces, returns or linefeeds on either or both sides, isremoved. An example of abandoned punctuation is the hyphen in "take abreak--today". Processing then proceeds to step 108 which is describedbelow, with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 illustrates sub-steps of step 108 wherein, at step 200, eachgroup between quotation marks is classified as a quote() and thecorresponding quotation marks are then removed from search data 28,i.e.--"grand canyon" is classified as quote(grand canyon).

At step 204, a comparison is performed between the processed search data28 and a list of null content phrases, referred to by the presentinventor as "throw away phrases". Each match between a group inprocessed search data 28 (other than groups classified as quote()) andthe list of null content phrases is classified as a throw(). Examplelists of null content phrases and null content words, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention, are included herewith as Tables1 and 2 respectively in Appendix A.

Next, at step 208, an "or" expansion is performed if required. An "or"expansion is intended to convert phrases such as "big/huge/jumbo" intodistinct terms separated by or's, i.e.--"big or huge or jumbo".

Next, each word in processed search data 28 which has not beenclassified as being part of a quote() or a throw() is examined andcategorized. An example of a set of categories used in a presentembodiment of the invention includes: quote(), throw(), capital(),number(), join(), prep(), adject(), qword(), or(), rank1() and phrase(),of which quote() and throw() are discussed above and the remainder ofwhich are described below. Classification proceeds in the order givenabove, with classification of groups as capital()'s being consideredbefore number()'s, etc.

At step 212 each remaining unclassified word is examined to determine ifit is within the definition of the capital() category. Specifically, ifthe first character of the word is capitalized, the word is classifiedas a capital(). Adjacent words which have been classified as capital()'sare combined into groups which are then classified as capital(),i.e.--capital(Mickey) capital(Mouse) are combined to capital (MickeyMouse).

At step 216, each remaining unclassified word is examined to determineif it is within the definition of the number() category. Specifically,if the first character of the word is a number, the word is classifiedas a number().

At step 220, each remaining unclassified word is examined to determineif it is within the definition of the join() category. Specifically, theword is compared to a predefined list of words and, if the word ispresent in the list, the word is classified as a join(). An example of alist of words which are used for classifying join()'s in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention is included herewith as Table 3in Appendix A.

At step 224, each remaining unclassified word is examined to determineif it is within the definition of the prep() category. Specifically, theword is compared to a predefined list of words and, if the word ispresent in the list, the word is classified as a prep(). An example of alist of words which are used for classifying prep()'s in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention is included herewith as Table 4in Appendix A.

At step 228, each remaining unclassified word is examined to determineif it is within the definition of the adject() category. Specifically,the word is compared to a predefined list of words and, if the word ispresent in the list, the word is classified as a adject(). An example ofa list of words which are used for classifying adject()'s in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention is included herewith asTable 5 in Appendix A.

At step 232, each remaining unclassified word is examined to determineif it is within the definition of the qword() category. Specifically,the word is compared to a predefined list of words and, if the word ispresent in the list, the word is classified as a qword(). An example ofa list of words which are used for classifying qword()'s in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention is included herewith asTable 6 in Appendix A.

At step 236, each remaining unclassified word is then deemed to be aphrase(). Adjacent words in processed search data 28 which arecategorized as phrase()'s are combined to form phrases which are thencategorized as phrase().

Finally, at step 240, the first word of each classified quote() isexamined to determine if it is capitalized. If it is, it is converted tolowercase and it is compared to the respective lists to determine if itcan be classified as a throw(), prep() or join(). If it can be, it isremoved from the quote() and re-classified accordingly. A similarprocess if performed for the first word of each classified capital().

The next step of parsing process 100 is step 112, in FIG. 2, wherein theclassified words and/or phrases are manipulated to extract the mostrelevant terms therefrom. Step 112 is described with reference to FIGS.4a through 4e, which illustrate sub-steps of step 112. Specifically, atstep 250, a check is first performed to ensure that search data 28contains groups (either a word or phrase) which has been classified asother than throw(). If all groups in search data 28 are classified asthrow(), an error message is presented to the user instructing them torewrite their search data at step 254. Otherwise, all groups in searchdata 28 which have been classified as throw()'s are discarded at step258.

Next, a determination is made at step 262 as to whether the firstremaining group in search data 28 is classified as phrase(). If thefirst remaining group is classified phrase(), then a determination ismade at step 266 as to whether any group exists in search data 28 whichhas been classified as capital() or quote() and which is not immediatelypreceded with a group classified as prep() or join(). If one or moresuch groups are present in search data 28, the first such group'sclassification is changed at step 270 to rank1(). If, at step 266, it isdetermined that no such group exists in search data 28, theclassification of the first group is changed from phrase() to rank1() atstep 274.

If, at step 262, the first remaining group is not classified phrase()then a determination is made at step 278 as to whether the firstremaining group in search data 28 is classified number(), adject(), orqword(). If the first remaining group is one of these classifications, adetermination is made at step 282 as to whether any group exists insearch data 28 which has been classified as capital() or quote() andwhich is not immediately preceded with a group classified as prep() orjoin(). If one or more such groups are present in search data 28, thefirst such group's classification is changed, at step 286, to rank1().

If, at step 282, no such group classified as capital() or quote()exists, a determination is made at step 290 as to whether there is anyremaining group in search data 28 which is classified phrase(). If thereis at least one such group, the classification of the first of thesegroups is changed to rank1() at step 294.

If, at step 290, there is no such group then a determination is made, atstep 298, as to whether there is a remaining group in search data 28which is classified number() or adject(). If there is at least one suchgroup, the classification of the first of these groups is changed torank1() at step 302.

If, at step 298, there is no such group, the first remaining group insearch data 28, which was classified qword(), is changed at step 306 toa rank1() classification.

If, at step 278, it was determined that the first remaining group insearch data 28 was not classified number(), adject() or qword(), then adetermination is made at step 310 (in FIG. 4b) as to whether the firstremaining group is classified as capital() or quote(). If the firstremaining group is classified as capital() or quote(), it is changed toa classification of rank1() at step 314.

If, at step 310, the first remaining group is not classified ascapital() or quote(), then a determination is made at step 318 as towhether the first remaining group is classified as prep(). If it is,then at step 322 a determination is made as to whether any group existsin search data 28 which has been classified as capital() or quote() andwhich is not immediately preceded with a group classified as prep() orjoin(). If one or more such groups are present in search data 28, thefirst such group's classification is changed at step 326 to rank1().

If, at step 322, it is determined that no group classified as capital()or quote() exists in search data 28 that is not immediately preceded bya group classified prep() or join(), then at step 330 a determination ismade as to whether any group exists in search data 28 which has beenclassified as phrase() which is not immediately preceded with a groupclassified as prep() or join(). If one or more such groups are presentin search data 28, the first such group's classification is changed atstep 334 to rank1().

If, at step 330, it is determined that no group classified as phrase()exists in search data 28 that is not immediately preceded by a groupclassified prep() or join(), then at step 338 a determination is made asto whether any group exists in search data 28 which has been classifiedas number() or adject() and which is not immediately preceded with agroup classified as prep() or join(). If one or more such groups arepresent in search data 28, the first such group's classification ischanged at step 342 to rank1().

If, at step 338, it is determined that no group classified as number()or adject() exists in search data 28 that is not immediately preceded bya group classified prep() or join(), then at step 346 a determination ismade as to whether any group exists in search data 28 other than groupsclassified prep() or join(). If no such other groups remain in searchdata 28, then an error message is presented to the user at step 350. Ifsuch other groups do exist, then the first group of quote(), capital(),number(), adject(), or qword classification is changed to rank1() atstep 354.

If, at step 318, the first group is not classified as prep(), then atstep 358 (FIG. 4c) a determination is made as to whether the firstremaining group is classified as a join(). If it is, this group isdeleted from search data 28 at step 362 and processing reverts to step262.

At step 366 (FIG. 4d), the first remaining group in search data 28 isselected for examination. At step 370, a determination is made as towhether the group is a phrase(), number(), capital() or quote()classification and whether it is immediately preceded by a group whichis a join(). If these conditions are met by the group being examined andif the join() which precedes the group is in turn preceded by a groupclassified as rank1(), then at step 374 the classification of the groupis changed to also be rank1(), i.e.--rank1(IBM) join(and)phrase(compiler) becomes rank1(IBM) join(and) rank1(compiler).

If the conditions of step 370 are not met by the group, at step 378 adetermination is made as to whether the group is an adject() which isimmediately preceded by a join() and, if so, if the group whichimmediately precedes that join() is classified as rank1(). If theseconditions are met, then the first following group which was classifiedphrase(), number(), capital() or quote() is changed to rank1() at step382.

If the conditions of step 378 are not met, at step 386 a determinationis made as to whether the group is classified as a phrase(), number(),capital() or quote() and if it is immediately followed by a groupclassified as join() which is in turn immediately followed by a groupwhich is classified as rank1(). If these conditions are met, then theclassification of the group is changed to rank1() at step 390.

At step 394, a determination is made as to whether all of the groups insearch data 28 have been considered. If not, the next group is selectedfor consideration at step 398 and processing returns to step 370. Once,at step 394, it is determined that all remaining groups have beenconsidered, processing continues at step 402 (FIG. 4e).

At step 402, apostrophe s's ('s) are deleted, if present, from eachnon-join() group. Next, at step 406, the first remaining group which isnot classified as a join() is examined. A determination is made at step410 as to whether the group which immediately precedes this group is ajoin(or). The term "join(or)" refers to the word `or`, from Table 3 ofAppendix A, which will have been classified as a join(). If thecondition at step 410 is true, then at step 414 any other join()'s whichimmediately precede the join(or) are removed.

Next, at step 418, a determination is made as to whether the immediatelypreceding non-join() is an or(). An or() is a classification for a listof search data words which can be separated by boolean OR's. Forexample, search data, "A or B or C" is re-expressed as or(A, B, C) forefficiency and convenience reasons. If, at step 418 the immediatelypreceding non-join() is an or(), then the preceding or(), the join(or)and the non-join() groups are combined.

If, at step 418, the preceding Non-join() is not an or(), processingcontinues at step 426 wherein the preceding non-join(), the join(or) andthe non-join() group are combined.

As an example of steps 418, 422 and 426, given search data which hasbeen classified as "phrase(pass) prep(from) capital(Tinkers) join(or)capital(Evert) join(or) capital(Chance)", when group "capital(Evert)" isprocessed at step 418, the processing will proceed to step 426. At step426, the search data is combined to read, "phrase(pass) prep(from)or(capital(Tinkers), capital(Evert)) join(or) capital(Chance)". Next,when processing group "capital(Chance)" at step 418, the processing willproceed to step 422 wherein the search data is combined to read,"phrase(pass) prep(from) or(capital(Tinkers), capital(Evert),capital(Chance))".

At step 428 a determination is made as to whether all non-join() groupshave been considered and, if not, the next group is selected at step 432and processing reverts to step 406. If, at step 428, it is determinedthat all non-join() groups have been considered, the manipulationprocess is complete, as indicated at 436.

Once the manipulation of the classified words at step 112 is complete,step 116 of parsing process 100 is performed to complete the process.Specifically, in step 116 an examination is performed on each remaininggroup in search data 28 to determine groups which can advantageously betranslated and/or enhanced. A translation table (not shown) of words andphrases and their preferred alternatives is maintained by process 100and the remaining groups in search data 28 are compared to the entriesin this table. For each match, the matching group is replaced with thepreferred alternative, either explicitly or via a translation function.

For example, the translation table can contain an explicit entry for"get in touch" for which a preferred alternative can be "contact". Anygroup in search data 28 which contains the phrase "get in touch" willhave this phrase replaced by "contact". As another example, thetranslation table can contain a function to convert time-related wordsinto numeric equivalents. Specifically, any group in search data 28containing the word "today" will have this word replaced with thecurrent date in an appropriate format, such as dd/mm/yy. Similarly,whole numbers can be converted to text form, i.e. "7" converted to"seven".

Finally, step 116 can perform a synonym expansion for selected wordsand/or phrases. For example, the word "discover" can be expanded to"discover or invent or find".

Referring again to FIG. 1, Natural Language Query Processor 24 passesthe processed search data 28 to meta search engine 32. Meta searchengine 32 receives processed search data 28 and further processes it toplace it into forms suitable for the search engine or engines 36 whichare defined for the information sources to be searched. For example, ifthe information sources to be searched are WWW pages, search engines 36can be appropriate search engines such as Lycos, AltaVista, etc. Or, ifa commercial database is to be searched, such as Lexis, search engines36 can be the database's proprietary search engine. In any case, metasearch engine 32 is responsible for assembling queries which areappropriate to each search engine 26 from processed search data 28.

In a present embodiment of meta search engine 32, queries are assembledfor three search engines 36, specifically the AltaVista, Lycos andExcite search engines for WWW pages. As will be apparent, fewer or moresearch engines can be employed if desired. It is also contemplated thatdifferent sets of search engines can be employed for different subjectmatters. For example, general enquiries may be passed to the set ofthree search engines mentioned above, while an enquiry relating to legalissues may be sent to any two of these search engines and to the Lexisdatabase. It is contemplated that the selection of an appropriate set ofsearch engines can either be performed explicitly by the user, orimplicitly by the search system 20, based upon recognized keywords inthe processed search data 28 or other information such as the user'sidentity, location, etc.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 5a and 5b, at step 500 a set of search engines isselected. As mentioned above, this can be either an implicit selection(a default set) or an explicit selection made by the user or by thesearch system 20. Next, at step 504, search data 28 is examined and allgroups classified as qword() are removed from the processed search data28. Next, at step 512, a database of search engine capabilities,requirements and addresses (URL's or other appropriate addressinformation) is consulted to determine the appropriate parameters foreach search engine in the selected set of search engines.

If one or more boolean-type search engines such as Excite, AltaVista,etc. are included in the set of search engines, at step 516, search data28 is simplified for such engines.

FIG. 5a shows a simplification for such boolean engines wherein at step550, the groups in search data 28 are sorted by classification, with thepresently preferred sort order being rank1(), or(), capital(), quote(),phrase(), adject() and number(). At step 554, each or() group is changedto the syntax required by the search engine, for example or(phrase(a),capital(b), phrase(c)) can be converted to (a or b or c). At step 558,the first portion of the query for the boolean search engine is formedby combining all of the groups which were classified as rank1(),separated by AND'S.

At step 562, a determination is made as to whether the next remaininggroup is classified as capital() or quote() and, if it is, that group isadded to the query with an AND at step 566. If, at step 562, the nextgroup is not a capital() or quote(), at step 570 multiple word phrasesare split into individual words and combined with OR's and the resultingstructure is add to the query with an AND. Next, at step 574, all or()'sare added to the query with an AND and, at step 578, all remainingunique words in the search data are combined into a structure, whereineach word is separated by an OR, and the resulting structure is added tothe query with an AND.

If one or more "word-only" type search engines such as Lycos, HotBot,etc. are included in the set of search engines, at step 520, search data28 is simplified for such engines. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5b, atstep 600 the groups in search data 28 are sorted by classification, withthe presently preferred sort order being rank1(), or(), capital(),quote(), phrase(), adject() and number(). Next, at step 604, thecontents of all of the groups are examined to remove duplicate words ina group, or between groups.

At step 608, a number n is determined as being the number of wordsremaining in search data 28, if less than four, or the value log₃(number of words--3). Next, at step 612, a determination is made as towhether the selected search engine accepts an input representing the"number of words to be matched" to have a `hit`. If the engine doessupport this input, as determined from the information in database 512,then at step 616 the query is composed and consists of all of the wordsand n. If, at step 612, the engine does not support a "number of wordsto be matched" input then at step 620 the query is composed andcomprises the first n words.

If one or more other search engines, such as Lexis, etc. are included inthe set of search engines, at step 524, search data 28 is appropriatelysimplified for such engines as will be apparent, to those of skill inthe art, in view of the above.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the simplified queries 38 from meta-searchengine 32 are dispatched to the corresponding search engines 36 viasuitable transmission means. For example, if a search engine isaccessible from a web page on the internet, the query is sent to the URLfor that web page with the query being in the required format. As willbe apparent to those of skill in the art, the present invention is notlimited to internet and/or World Wide Web-based search engines and anyaccessible search engine can be employed.

Examples of such search engines include, but are not limited to, thoseaccessible via a LAN, a dedicated telecommunications line, a dial-uptelecommunications link, etc., or even one or more search enginesintegral with system 20 can all be employed with the present system.

At step 532 in FIG. 5, `hits` 42 (in FIG. 1) from each search engine arereceived by meta-search engine 32. These hits are then passed to SearchResults Filter 46 when results have been obtained from all of the searchengines in the set or when a predetermined time limit has been exceededwithout receiving results from one or more search engine.

The hits received by Search Results Filter 46 are generally in the formof an address, such as a URL, at which a relevant information source canbe located and the identity of the search engine which returned the hit.Search Results Filter 46 combines the hits from each search engine intoa single list and removes redundancies. The culled list of hits isplaced into the format necessary to retrieve the individual informationsources and this formatted list is transferred to Information Retrievalmeans 50.

From this formatted list, Information Retrieval means 50 retrieves thecomplete information sources 54 for each of a preselected maximum numberof hits from each search engine 36. For example, the first 10 hits fromeach engine, after redundancies have been removed, may be retrieved.

The retrieved information sources are then examined by the Selectormeans 58. Selector means 58 performs several functions, includingranking the relevancy of the information sources retrieved andidentifying their relevant portions for output to the user.

The process for ranking of the information sources employs the processedsearch data 28 from Natural Language Query Processor 24. Specifically,as illustrated at step 680 of FIG. 6, a scoring regime is establishedfor the retrieved information sources relative to the processed searchdata 28 and a score table is created to hold determined scores for eachinformation source. A presently preferred scoring regime is given inAppendix B. In this regime, each group in processed search data 28 istreated as a separate candidate and separate totals are maintained foreach candidate in the score table. An example of processed search data28 which reads, "or(phrase(contact), phrase(personnel), phrase(names));phrase(people); rank1(Gravis); rank1(Logitech))" has four candidates.

At step 684, the processed search data 28 is augmented by adding thefollowing to processed search data 28: for each group with multiple wordphrases, create another group wherein the first word is capitalized,(i.e.--for phrase(big sky) create group phrase(Big sky)); for each groupwith multiple word phrases, create another group wherein each word iscapitalized, (i.e.--for phrase(big sky) create group phrase(Big Sky));for each group with multiple words, including any capitalized groupscreated in the preceding steps, another group is created by replacingspaces in the group with +'s (i.e.--for phrase(Mickey Mouse), createphrase(Mickey+Mouse)); and for each word, whether in a single word groupor a multi-word group, make new words by capitalizing them. For example,the phrase(mickey mouse pluto) becomes phrase(Mickey), phrase (Mouse)and phrase(Pluto). Each of these created groups is then added to thescore table, with a score for any of these groups being considered ascore for the candidate, i.e.--a match with the augmented phrase(Mickeymouse) is scored for the phrase(mickey mouse).

Next, at step 688, a first retrieved information source is selected. Atstep 692, the information source is examined to determine each matchbetween its contents and the groups in the score table. For each match,an entry is made in the score table for the corresponding candidateincluding the score assigned the match under the selected scoring regimeand the location of the match within the information source.

Next, at step 696, the matches are sorted by their location within theinformation source. At step 700, a determination is made as to whethermore than three matches were found within the information source. Ifthree or fewer matches were found, the information source is assigned arank of zero at step 704 and, if at step 706 it is determined that oneor more information sources remain to be considered, the nextinformation source is selected at step 708 and processing returns tostep 692.

If at step 700 it is determined that more than three matches have beenfound in the information source, processing proceeds to step 712, shownin FIG. 6a, wherein the first three consecutive matches are selected forfurther consideration. At step 716, a table is established with aninitial score value for each candidate. An example of a table ofpresently preferred initialization values is given in Appendix C.

At step 720, the scores are determined for the set of three hits,referred to herein as a segment. Specifically, these segment scores aredetermined by adding the scores of the corresponding candidates in eachmatch with the initial score value for each respective candidate, fromAppendix C, to obtain total scores for each candidate for the segment.These candidate totals are then multiplied together, includingcandidates which were not represented in the segment and which thus onlyhave their initial value. This value is then divided by the length ofthe segment (i.e. the number of characters, including white space, etc.between the start of the first match being considered and end of thelast match being considered).

The result of this calculation is then multiplied by the value log₁₀(x)¹.5, where x is the previously determined length of the segment. Thislatter step weights the result against segments which are relativelysmall. Finally, the result of this calculation is divided by the value1+log₁₀ (y), where y is the difference between the number of matches inthe candidate with the greatest number of matches and the average numberof matches for the other candidates, however if the value of y isdetermined to be less than one, it is set at one. This calculation isintended to weight the result against segments with a high number ofmatches in just a few candidates and few matches in the remainingcandidates. The result of all of these calculations is the resultantsegment score.

A step 724, a determination is made as to whether all matches in aninformation source have been considered. If unconsidered matches exist,the next three consecutive matches are selected for consideration as asegment at step 728. In the event that less than three unconsideredmatches exist, a segment of three is formed at step 728 by "padding",namely by taking the last three consecutive matches, even if one or twoof these matches have previously been considered. Processing thencommences again at step 716.

If, at step 724, it is determined that all matches have been considered,the two segments with highest scores are selected at step 732. It willbe apparent to those of skill in the art that, in the event that only asingle segment exists in an information source, processing will proceedfrom step 724 to step 764, described below.

At step 740, as shown in FIG. 6b, the first of the two highest scoringsegments is selected. At step 744, the selected segment is augmented byadding the immediately preceding match (if any) to form an augmentedsegment. As referred to herein, a segment is merely a first offset fromthe start of the information source defining the start location of theportion of the information under consideration and a second offsetdefining the end of the portion of interest in the information source.Thus, in step 744, the augmentation is accomplished by moving the firstoffset appropriately, towards the start of the information source.Similarly, when a segment is "scanned" or otherwise processed, theinformation source is actually being considered, between the twooffsets.

Steps 716 and 720 are then performed again on this augmented segment. Atstep 748, the selected segment is augmented by adding the immediatelyfollowing match (if any) to form a second augmented segment and steps716 and 720 are then performed again.

At step 752, a determination is made as to whether the resulting scoreof either of these augmented segments is higher than the previous scorefor the segment. If at least one score is higher, the augmented segmentwith the highest score is selected at step 756 and steps 744 through 752are performed again on the selected augmented segment, wherein theselected augmented segment is augmented to form two new augmentedsegments which are scored and compared to the score of the selectedaugmented segment.

This process of augmenting, scoring and comparing continues until it isdetermined, at step 752, that neither of the augmented segments have ascore higher than the score of the previously selected segment. Oncethis is determined, the previous selected segment is deemed to be theresult for the segment at step 760. A determination is made a step 762as to whether the second highest scoring segment from step 732 has beenconsidered and, if not, processing proceeds from step 744 for thatsegment. If both segments have been considered, then at step 764 thesegment, whether augmented or not, with the highest score is deemed tobe the segment of interest for the information source.

A determination is made at step 768 as to whether any other informationsources remain for which a segment of interest has not been determinedand, if this is the case, processing reverts to step 708. Otherwise,processing proceeds to step 800, as shown in FIG. 6c.

At step 800 the final segment from each information source is ranked indescending order, by their respective determined scores. At this point,it is likely that these segments define portions of their respectiveretrieved information sources which are incomplete to some extent, suchas only being portions of paragraphs and/or sentences. Further, if theinformation sources were World Wide Web pages, in HTML format, it ispossible that one or more HTML tags are missing from the portions,rendering them unparsable by an HTML browser. Accordingly, at step 804,the final segments are "cleaned up". As this clean up process proceeds,the information source retrieved is modified, if necessary, by moving,adding or deleting information therein.

Specifically, if the retrieved information sources are HTML formattedfiles, then the retrieved information source is scanned, as indicated atstep 900 in FIG. 7, to determine if a <BODY> tag is present within theportion of the retrieved information source which is between the startand end points defined by the segment. If no such tag is present, thenat step 904, the retrieved information source is scanned, commencing atthe start defined by the segment and working towards the beginning ofthe retrieved information source, for HTML tags. For each tagencountered, the actions listed in the table in Appendix D are performedaccordingly. For example, if a </CODE> tag is encountered, the tag ismoved to the start of the segment and the scan is continued. As anotherexample, if a <DD> tag is encountered, the tag is moved to the start ofthe segment and the scan is stopped. As another example, if a <TITLE>tag is encountered, the tag is not moved to the start of the segment andthe scan stops. In the absence of a tag which stops the scan, the scanterminates when the beginning of the retrieved information source isencountered.

If, at step 908, a <BODY> tag is present, the segment start is updatedto exclude the tag and all material before it.

Next, a determination is made at step 912 as to whether the segmentincludes a </BODY> tag. If no such tag is present, then at step 916, theretrieved information source is scanned, commencing at the end definedby the segment and working towards the end of the retrieved informationsource, for HTML tags. For each tag encountered, the actions listed inthe table in Appendix E are performed accordingly. For example, if a</CAPTION> tag is encountered, the tag is moved to the end of thesegment and the scan is continued. As another example, if a </LI> tag isencountered, the tag is moved to the end of the segment and the scan isstopped. As another example, if an <ADDRESS> tag is encountered, the tagis not moved to the end of the segment and the scan stops. In theabsence of a tag which stops the scan, the scan terminates when the endof the retrieved information source is encountered.

If, at step 912, it is determined that the segment does include a</BODY> tag, the segment end is updated to exclude the tag and all ofthe material following it.

Next, at step 924, the "cleaned up" segment is scanned again, from theupdated start to the updated end, to close any "open" tags (i.e.--anopen tag for which there is no corresponding closing tag, e.g. <CAPTION>without a </CAPTION>) by adding the corresponding closing tag and toopen any "dangling" tags (i.e.--closing tags without a correspondingopen tag) by adding the corresponding open tag. As will be apparent tothose of skill in the art, added closing tags will be added to the endof the segment, in reverse order to the order the corresponding opentags are encountered in the segment and added open tags are added to thebeginning of the segment, in reverse order to the order thecorresponding closing tags are encountered in the segment.

Next, at step 928, problematic tags are modified or removed inaccordance with the table in Appendix F. Specifically, the segment ischecked for any filenames present with tags, such as <a> or <IMG> tags,which are expressed in with relative names, i.e.--not with fulluniversal resource locators (URL's). Any such filenames are converted toabsolute names, with full URL's. Tags listed in (2) of Appendix F areremoved from the information source, along with their contents, and thesegment start and end are updated appropriately. Tags listed in (3) ofAppendix F are removed from the information source, leaving theircontents. Finally, the specific tags listed in (4) of Appendix F arealtered in the indicated manner.

At step 932, each URL (hot link) within the segment is checked toconfirm that it links to a valid/existing information source. If a URLdoes not link to a valid information source, the URL is "unlinked", butits text is left in place. If the URL does link to a valid informationsource, a check is performed to determine if one or more of the groupsin processed search data 28 are present in the URL or in the informationsource to which it points. If one or more groups are present, thisinformation source is retrieved by Information Retrieval means 50 andprocessed by Selector means 58. The final segment determined for thisretrieved information source is ranked against the final segmentspreviously determined for the other retrieved information sources and isadded to the sorted final segments obtained at step 800. The clean upoperations of step 804 are then performed on this latest, final segment.

The retrieval of information sources which are linked to previouslyretrieved information sources is limited to a preselected number oflevels of recursion. It is contemplated that this number of levels ofrecursion will be a selectable parameter, although a suitable number oflevels of recursion can be specified as a fixed default, if desired. Ina present embodiment of the invention, no recursion (zero levels) is theselected default., but it is contemplated that more levels may bedesired in other circumstances.

If, at step 804, the information source contains only text, i.e.--is notan HTML document, then the clean up proceeds as shown in FIG. 8.Specifically, at step 950, the information source is scanned, from thestart defined by the segment to the start of the information source,until the first blank line is encountered or the start of theinformation source is reached. If, as determined at step 954, a blankline was encountered, the segment start is updated at step 958 toinclude all material up to the blank line. If, as determined at step954, the start of the information source is encountered, the segmentstart is updated at step 962 to include all material up to the beginningof the source.

Next, at step 966, the information source is scanned, from the enddefined by the segment to the end of the information source, until thefirst blank line is encountered or the end of the information source isreached. If, as determined at step 970, a blank line was encountered,the segment end is updated at step 974 to include all material down tothe blank line. If, as determined at step 966, the end of theinformation source is encountered, the segment end is updated at step978 to include all material down to the end of the source.

As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, if information sourcesin formats other than text or HTML are retrieved, appropriate clean upoperations will be performed, as desired.

As a final step of Selector means 58, the highest ranked, "cleaned up"segment is selected for output to the user, as is each cleaned upsegment whose score is no less than a preselected level. In a presentembodiment of the invention, up to the ten highest scoring segmentswhose scores are greater than 0.01 are output to the user as a first setand a second set of up to the next ten highest scoring segments whosescores are greater than 0.01 are also available for output to the user.As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, the selection of thisoutput criteria is arbitrary and may be varied as desired but thiscriteria has been found to provide reasonable results.

Output device 62 then outputs the portions 66 of the cleaned upinformation sources indicated by the selected segments to the user. In apresent embodiment of the invention, the output portions include aheader which identifies the ranking of the portion, a link (URL) to theoriginal information source (if appropriate), a number indicating thesize of the original information source and a link (if appropriate) tothe Search Engine 36 with which the information source was found.

An example of the operation of an embodiment of the present invention isgiven below. In the example, the user has entered "Where do Monarchbutterflies spend the winter?" as the Natural Language Search Data 28.The processed search data from the Natural Language Query Processor 24is "rank1(Monarch) phrase(butterflies spend) phrase (winter)" and thisis passed to meta search engine 32.

In this example, a set of search engines 36 has been previously selectedand includes the Lycos, AltaVista and Excite engines. Meta search engine32 simplifies the processed search data 28 for each search engine in theset to obtain simplified search data appropriate to each engine.Specifically, for the Lycos engine, the search data which is dispatchedis, "Monarch+butterflies+spend+winter". For the AltaVista search engine,the search data is, "Monarch+AND+(butterflies+OR+spend)+AND+(winter)Monarch ranked first". Finally, for the Excite search engine, the searchdata is, "Monarch+AND+(butterflies+OR+spend)+AND+(winter)". This searchdata is appropriately combined with the URL for each respective searchengine and is transmitted to the search engine.

Again, in this example it has been previously decided that no more thatthe first twenty `hits` from each search engine will be considered.Appendix G shows the actual HTML pages returned by each search engineand Appendix H shows the list of URL's which have been extracted fromthe pages in Appendix G, after obvious redundancies have beeneliminated. In the Appendix, the URL's located by the AltaVista engineare identified with a "av##" prefix, those located by the Lycos engineare identified with a "ly##" prefix and those located by the Exciteengine are identified with a "ex##" prefix. As will be noted, there wasone redundant `hit` in the first twenty URL's located by AltaVista,resulting in only nineteen entries for AltaVista in the list of AppendixG. Similarly, there were two redundant `hits` in the first twenty URL'slocated by Lycos, resulting in only eighteen entires for Lycos in thelist of Appendix G. In the cases wherein a redundancy is determinedbetween the hits returned by two or more search engines, the highestranked hit is retained and the other hit or hits are removed from thesearch engine results wherein they were lower scored. For example, ifthe Lycos search engine ranked a hit as being number two and Exciteranked the same hit as being number ten, and AltaVista ranked the samehit as being number seven, the Lycos hit is retained and the other twohits are removed from the hit lists.

Information retrieval means 50 then retrieves each of the informationsources listed in Appendix G, if possible, and these retrievedinformation sources are processed by Selector means 58 to obtain thelist of cleaned up final segments shown in Appendix I. This listincludes the URL to retrieve the information source, the start and endpoints of the cleaned up segment (expressed as byte offsets from thebeginning of the information source), and the score assigned to theinformation source by Selector means 58.

Appendix J shows the formatted text (converted from the raw HTML code)of two of the information sources retrieved from the information sourcelisted in Appendix G and Appendix K shows the final segments from theseinformation sources, as output to the user by output means 62.

As discussed above, the present invention allows a user to input anatural language query, search multiple and diverse databases, retrievea plurality of information sources which are deemed relevant to theuser's query and to extract the relevant portions of at least some ofthe information sources and present them to the user. It is contemplatedthat the present invention will assist the user by culling manyinformation sources which are not relevant to the query and byextracting the relevant portions of the relevant information sources.Thus, the user will be presented with a concise selection of informationwhich is relevant to the original query.

The above-described embodiments of the invention are intended to beexamples of the present invention and alterations and modifications maybe effected thereto, by those of skill in the art, without departingfrom the scope of the invention which is defined solely by the claimsappended hereto.

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        Appendix A                                                                    ______________________________________                                        I'm after I need    all about    all of                                       all on    any of    available about                                                                            available at                                 available in                                                                            available on                                                                            available to both of                                      example from                                                                            example of                                                                              examples from                                                                              examples of                                  find out  Find Out  find out about                                                                             Find out about                               go about  happened at                                                                             happened in  happened on                                  happened to                                                                             happens at                                                                              happens in   happens on                                   happens to                                                                              has in    have in      how much                                     How much  included in                                                                             information about                                                                          information from                             information on                                                                          know about                                                                              known about  list of                                      lists of  mention of                                                                              more about   more of                                      more on   name of   names of     need to know                                 overview of                                                                             some of   summary about                                                                              summary from                                 summary of                                                                              summary on                                                                              taken by     tell me about                                Tell me about                                                                           the heck  things about we're after                                  We're after                                                                   ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 2                                                         ______________________________________                                        Appendix A                                                                    ______________________________________                                        I      I'd      I'll      I'm     a      all                                  am     an       any       are     as     ask                                  available                                                                            be       been      being   both   but                                  call   called   can       can't   did    do                                   does   doesn't  don't     example examples                                                                             explain                              find   following                                                                              get       gets    getting                                                                              give                                 got    gotten   had       happened                                                                              happens                                                                              has                                  have   he       her       hers    him    his                                  how    how's    if        include included                                                                             includes                             including                                                                            info     information                                                                             irregardless                                                                          is     it                                   it's   its      know      like    list   lists                                look   many     may       me      mention                                                                              might                                more   my       name      named   names  no                                   nor    not      one       our     ours   over-                                really regardless                                                                             she       should  show   view                                 such   summary  take      taken   tell   some                                 that   the      their     them    there  tells                                they   thing    things    this    took   there's                              was    we       we'd      we'll   were   want                                 what's when     when's    where   where's                                                                              what                                 who's  whose    why       why's   will   who                                  would  you      your                     won't                                ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 3                                                         ______________________________________                                        Appendix A                                                                    ______________________________________                                        and       or                                                                  ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 4                                                         ______________________________________                                        about     around    at       between by                                       for       from      in       into    of                                       on        onto      over     to      unto                                     with                                                                          ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 5                                                         ______________________________________                                        antique   architectural                                                                            bad      best    better                                  big       bigger     biggest  black   blue                                    brown     different  eight    electronic                                                                            fall                                    fast      fastest    five     four    good                                    green     grey       high     highest high-tech                               identical large      larger   largest least                                   little    long       longest  longer  low                                     lowest    most       natural  nine    official                                one       orange     poor     purple  red                                     seven     short      shorter  shortest                                                                              six                                     slow      slowest    spring   standard                                                                              summer                                  ten       three      two      unique  unofficial                              various   violet     white    widely  winter                                  worse     worst      yellow                                                   ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 6                                                         ______________________________________                                        Appendix A                                                                    ______________________________________                                        How       What     When     Where    Who                                      Why       how      what     when     where                                    who       why                                                                 ______________________________________                                    

    ______________________________________                                        Appendix B                                                                    Classification                                                                           Whole Group  Individual Words in Group                             ______________________________________                                        rank1()    10           10/(n + 1)                                            quote()    7            2/(2*n + 1)                                           capital()  7            7/(2*n + 1)                                           phrase()   5            5/(n + 1)                                             number()   3            n/a                                                   qword()    3            n/a                                                   adject     3            3/(n + 1)                                             ______________________________________                                         where n is the number of individual words in a group.                         Notes:                                                                        (1) If a group is classified as rank1(), capital() or quote(); do not         count any words in groups classified as prep(), join() or throw() which       are within the group.                                                         (2) For a group classified as or(), each group within the or() group is       scored separately in accordance with the regime above and the individual      scores are added and maintained for the candidate as a whole.            

    ______________________________________                                        Appendix C                                                                    Classification Initial Value                                                  ______________________________________                                        rank1()        0.3                                                            capital()      0.4                                                            quote()        0.4                                                            phrase()       0.5                                                            number()       0.7                                                            adjective()    0.7                                                            qword()        0.9                                                            ______________________________________                                    

    ______________________________________                                        Appendix D                                                                    Tag         Action         Continue/Stop Scan                                 ______________________________________                                        <!-->       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </A>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </ADDRESS>  Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </APPLET>   Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </B>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </BANNER>   Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </BIG>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </BLINK>    Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </BLOCKQUOTE>                                                                             Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </BODY>     Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </BQ>       Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </CAPTION>  Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </CENTER>   Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </CITE>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </CODE>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </COMMENT>  Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </CREDIT>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </DD>       Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </DFN>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </DIR>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </DIV>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </DL>       Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </DT>       Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </EM>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </FIG>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </FN>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </FONT>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </FORM>     Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </FRAMESET> Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </H1>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </H2>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </H3>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </H4>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </H5>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </H6>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </HEAD>     Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </HTML>     Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </I>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </IMG>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </IFRAME>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </KBD>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </LH>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </LI>       Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </LISTING>  Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </MAP>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </MARQUEE>  Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </MENU>     Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </MULTICOL> Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </NOBR>     Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </NOFRAMES> Include this tag.                                                                            Continue                                           </NOSCRIPT> Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </NOTE>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </OBJECT>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </OL>       Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </OPTION>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </P>        Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </PLAINTEXT>                                                                              Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </PRE>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </S>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </SAMP>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </SCRIPT>   Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </SELECT>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </SMALL>    Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </SPAN>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </STRIKE>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </STRONG>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </STYLE>    Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </SUB>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </SUP>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </TABLE>    Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </TD>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </TEXTAREA> Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </TFOOT>    Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </TH>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </THEAD>    Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </TT>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </U>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </UL>       Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </VAR>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </WBR>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </XMP>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              <A>         Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <ADDRESS>   Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <APPLET>    Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <AREA>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <B>         Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <BANNER>    Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <BASE>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <BASEFONT>  Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              <BGSOUND>   Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              <BIG>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <BLINK>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <BLOCKQUOTE>                                                                              Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <BODY>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              <BQ>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <BR>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <CAPTION>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <CENTER>    Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <CITE>      include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <CODE>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <COL>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </TITLE>    Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </TR>       Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              <COLGROUP>  Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <COMMENT>   Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <CREDIT>    Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <DD>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <DFN>       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <DIR>       Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <DIV>       Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <DL>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <DT>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <EM>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <EMBED>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <FIG>       Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <FN>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <FONT>      Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <FORM>      Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <FRAME>     Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <FRAMESET>  Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <H1>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <H2>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <H3>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <H4>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <H5>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <H6>        Include this tag.                                                                            Stop.                                              <HEAD>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop                                               <HR>        Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              <HTML>      Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              <I>         Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <IFRAME>    Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          <IMG>       Include this tag.                                                                            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    ______________________________________                                        APPENDIX E                                                                    Tag         Action         Continue/Stop Scan                                 ______________________________________                                        <!-->       Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </A>        Include this tag.                                                                            Continue.                                          </ADDRESS>  Don't include this tag.                                                                      Stop.                                              </APPLET>   Don't include this tag.                                                                      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    ______________________________________                                        APPENDIX                                                                      (1) Replace any filenames with the segments (e.g., within <A> or              <IMG>) that are specified with relative names (i.e., not full URLs) with      the appropriate full URLs.                                                    (2) Remove the following tags and their contents:                             <! . . . >                                                                    <BASEFONT . . . >                                                             <COMMENT . . . >                                                              <META . . . >                                                                 <FRAMESET . . . > </FRAMESET>                                                 <TITLE> </TITLE>                                                              <HEAD> </HEAD>                                                                <LINK . . . >                                                                 <NEXTID . . . >                                                               (3) Remove the following tags, but keep their contents:                       <DIV . . . > </DIV>                                                           <HTML> </HTML>                                                                <SPAN . . . > </SPAN>                                                         (4) Alter the following tags in the given manner:                             -APPLET . . . > </APPLET>                                                                     Replace the entire tag with an APPLET                                         icon which is linked to the entire                                            source document.                                              -BGSOUND . . . >                                                                              Replace the entire tag with a SOUND                                           icon which is linked to the particular                                        sound.                                                        -EMBED . . . >  Replace the entire tag with an EMBED                                          icon which is linked to the entire                                            source document.                                              -IMG . . . >    Replace the entire tag with an                                                IMAGE icon which is linked to the                                             particular image.                                             <MARQUEE . . . >                                                                              Replace the entire tag with a                                 -/MARQUEE>      MARQUEE icon which is linked to the                                           entire document.                                              -OBJECT . . . > </OBJECT>                                                                     Replace the entire tag with an OBJECT                                         icon which is linked to the entire                                            document.                                                     -SCRIPT . . . > </SCRIPT>                                                                     Replace the entire tag with a SCRIPT                                          icon which is linked to the entire                                            document.                                                     ______________________________________                                    

    ______________________________________                                        APPENDIX G                                                                    AltaVist Search results:                                                      Word count: Monarch: 19925                                                    Documents 1-10 of about 300 matching the query, best matches first.           Danaus plexippus [Monarch Butterfly]                                          Danaus plexippus. Monarch Butterfly.   Classification. Phylum:                Arthropoda. Class: Insecta. Order: Lepidoptera. Family: Nymphalidae.          Table of Contents . . . .                                                     http://www.oit.itd.umich.edu/bio/doc.cgi/Arthropoda/Insecta/Lepidoptera/      Nymphalidae/Danaus.sub.-- plexippus.ftl - size 9K - 1 Jul 96                  Monarch Butterfly                                                             STATE INSECT - MONARCH BUTTERFLY Danaus plexippus. The                        monarch was chosen in 1975 to be Illinois' state insect. The third            grade classes at Dennis School . . .                                          http://dnr.state.il.us/NREDU/CLASSRM/symbol/insect.htm - size 2K - 29         Apr 96                                                                        Monarch Watch: Tracking the journey                                           Monday, September 30, 1996. Monarch Watch: Tracking the journey.              Internet resources. At left:Yuna Asriyan, left, Joe Nguyen and other          fourth graders watch.                                                         http://www.portland.net/ph/monews/story2.htm - size 10K - 30 Sep 96           Control of Monarch Parasite                                                   How Do I Control the Monarch Parasite? Dear Fellow Monarch Raiser:            Many of us are distributing monarch butterflies as a means to excite the      public, . . .                                                                 http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/parasitecontrol - size 9K - 5 Apr 96             The Blake School: Monarch Butterfly Project, Research9                        Habitat Status of Monarch Butterflies in Mexico and the U.S. Morgan           Steiner. Deforestation in Mexico is a major problem for the habitat of        the monarch . . .                                                             http://www.blake.pvt.k12.mn.us/campus/projects/upper/monarchs/                research/steiner1.html - size 2K - 2 Mar 96                                   Journey North: Monarch Butterfly Updates                                      Journey North News. Monarch Butterfly Migration Update:                       April 16, 1996.                                                               Only five new monarch sightings were reported this week! Again,               biologists Dr. . . . .                                                        http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/829680914.html -     size                                                                          9K - 16 Apr 96                                                                Journey North: Monarch Butterfly Updates                                      Journey North News. Monarch Migration Update: April 9, 1996. Our              Internet Field Team is hard at work! There are many, many monarchs to         map this week! By . . .                                                       http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/829061947.html -     size                                                                          13K - 9 Apr 96                                                                Journey North: Monarch Butterfly Updates                                      Journey North News. Monarch Migration Update: March 26, 1996. A               few new monarch sightings were reported this week. Here's a chart             summarizing this . . .                                                        http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/827853714.html       size                                                                          10K - 26 Mar 96                                                               Monarch Migration                                                             Journey North's 3rd Annual Spring Monarch Migration Project Get ready!        You're invited to take part in an international science project with          students and . . .                                                            http://bvsd.k12.co.us/monarch.html - size 4K - 17 Jun 96                      Journey North: Monarch Butterfly Updates                                      Journey North News. Deforestation and the Monarch Butterfly Reserves.         by Liz Olson, Grade 11, The Blake Schools. One of the major issues that       has arisen . . .                                                              http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/826042770.html -     size                                                                          4K - 5 Mar 96                                                                 p. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 [Next]                  Search and Display the Results                                                Selection Criteria: Please use Advanced Syntax (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR).          Results Ranking Criteria: Documents containing these words will be            listed first.                                                                 Start date: End date: e.g. 21/Mar/96                                          Surprise . Legal. FAQ . Add URL . Feedback . Text-Only                        Copyright - 1996 Digital Equipment Corporation. All rights reserved.          Word count: Monarch: 19925 (second page)                                      Documents 11-20 of about 300 matching the query, best matches first.          Monarch Detectives                                                            Discovery of the Monarch Migration. Monarchs at an overwintering site in      central Mexico. Research of the monarch migration and biology began           around 1857 . . .                                                             http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/migrtnhist.html - size 4K - 5 Apr 96             The Blake School: Monarch Butterfly Project, Field Reports8                   Field Report: Monarch Mortality Estimates from the December Snowfall.         By Todd Stiefler. December 30, 1995 a snowstorm hit Central Mexico            dropping . . .                                                                http://www.blake.pvt.k12.mn.us/campus/projects/upper/monarchs/                reports/report8.html - size 4K - 14 Jun 96                                    The Monarch Butterfly                                                         Monarch Butterfly. Did you know the bluejay is afraid of the male             Monarch? They're also noctunal. The order of all butterflies is               Lepidoptera, and they . . .                                                   http://info.csd.org:70/WWW/schools/pattonville/insect.museum/                 butterfly.h                                                                   tml - size 3K - 4 Mar 96                                                      Monarch Butterfly Migration                                                   The Migratory Behavior of the Monarch Butterfly. Karen Hanson Nicki           Nguyen Hien To. I. Introduction: The awesome sight of hundreds of             monarch butterflies.                                                          http://genbiol.cbs.umn.edu/1009/1009h/monarchs.html - size 12K -              28 May 96                                                                     Guide to Pismo Beach - Monarch Butterflies                                    Pismo Beach - Monarch Butterflies. The "Butterfly Trees" of Pismo Beach       are an added attraction to the city. From late November through               February, . . .                                                               http://dial.net/pismo/monarch - size 6K - 21 Jun 96                           Journey North: Monarch Butterflies Migration                                  Monarch Butterflies Migration Updates will be posted on: Tuesdays.            Background Information. Migration Data Table. Journey North News.             Monarch Butterflies . . .                                                     http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/ - size 5K -         30 May 96                                                                     Pismo Beach Guide - Monarch Butterflies                                       Pismo Beach - Monarch Butterflies. The "Butterfly Trees" of Pismo Beach       are an added attraction to the city. From late Novemher through               February, . . .                                                               http://webmill.com/pismo/monarch - size 6K - 19 Jun 96                        Follow the Monarch Butterfly Migration                                        Follow the Monarch Butterfly Migration. Mexico. Nature Observation.           Click on an image to see it in full view: Every autumn, . . .                 http://www.deepriver.com/adven/htm/181.htm - size 4K - 11 Jan 96              Monarch migration                                                             Where do Monarchs Go for Winter? A view of an oyamel (fir) forest on          Sierra Chincua near Angangueo in central Mexico. Toward the end of            summer (late . . .                                                            http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/migration.html - size 6K - 5 Apr 96              Texas Monarch Watch                                                           Texas Monarch Watch Nongame Program Texas Parks and Wildlife                  4200 Smith School Road Austin, TX 78744. The Texas Monarch Watch.             The Texas Monarch Watch is . . .                                              http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/texasmw.html - size 19K - 5 Apr 96               [Prev] p. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1819 20 [Next]            Search and Display the Results                                                Selection Criteria: Please use Advanced Syntax (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR).          Results Ranking Criteria: Documents containing these words will be            listed first.                                                                 Start date: End date: e.g. 21/Mar/96                                          Surprise . Legal . FAQ . Add URL . Feedback . Text-Only                       Copyright - 1996 Digital Equipment Corporation. All rights reserved.          Excite!Search results:                                                        Search Menu                                                                   New Search                                                                    Advanced Search                                                               Add URL                                                                       Excite and AOL Sign Exclusive Agreement                                       Check out our advertiser: Click Here                                          Excite Search found 926 documents about: Monarch AND (butterflies OR          spend) AND (winter).                                                          Check out Reviews!                                                            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Go To                                                                         Excite Home                                                                   Excite Search                                                                 Excite Reviews                                                                Excite City.Net                                                               Excite Live                                                                   Excite Reference                                                              Excite Tours                                                                  Info                                                                          Help                                                                          Feedback                                                                      Advertising                                                                   Credits                                                                       About Excite                                                                  Did you know?                                                                 Click on `More Like This` to see more documents that pertain to your          search.                                                                       Excite Search is sponsored in part by Sun Microsystems and run on             10-CPU Ultra Enterprise 4000 servers.                                         Documents 1-10 sorted by confidence                                           92% Travel - George H Winslow, Jr. [More Like This]                           URL: http://home.forbin.com/˜gwinslow/travel.html                       Summary: With the coming of fall I am reminded that the Monarch               butterflies are starting their annual migration to their winter               hibernation grounds. When we arrived at the sanctuary we found                approximately 5-7 million butterflies in just a few square miles of           mountain top.                                                                 92% Butterflies Page [More Like This]                                         URL: http://www.oise.on.ca/˜lasullivan/butterfiies.html                 Summary: If you are a student in grades 4-6 looking for information to        create a project on butterflies you are looking in the right place! .)        Save The Butterfly (Dedicated to saving butterflies around the world) A       New Butterfly Conservatory (A great place to visit if you have a              graphic browser).                                                             92% Monarch Butterfly [More Like This]                                        URL: http://www.tnc.org./infield/species/monarch/monarch.htm                  Summary: Burnt orange, up to 4 inches across with black markings,             Monarchs can be found virtually anywhere in the United States. In late        September, for instance, they begin to congregate at Cache River Joint        Wetlands Project in Illinois, a Conservancy preserve, and move southward      for their annual migration.                                                   91% Follow the Monarch Butterfly Migration [More Like This]                   URL: http://www.deepriver.com/adven/htm/181.htm                               Summary: Click on an image to see it in full view: Every autumn,              millions of monarch butterflies from North American begin an incredible       migration, journeying south to spend the winter in central Mexico.            The forests, which for centuries have been the winter haven of these          butterflies, are now threatened by loggers.                                   91% On Six Legs Flies of the Butter Season S . . . [More Like This]           URL:                                                                          http://hermes.ecn.purdue.edu:8001/gopher.sub.-- dir/The%20Purdue%20           Cooperative%20Extension%20Gopher%20Information%20Server/                      Current%20News/Archives/96/A pr/04-26/OSL:%20Flies%20of%                      20the%20Butter%20Season                                                       Summary: http://bloodshot.com:80/babble/puppy/candle.html                     91% Illinois State Insect [More Like This]                                    URL: http://www.museum.state.il.us:70/exhibits/symbols/insect.html            Summary: Some monarchs remain in the vicinity of their breeding               grounds; others fly north to lay eggs. If this was of interest, you might     be                                                                            interested in these other Internet resources on monarchs and other            insects.                                                                      91% Monarch Watch [More Like This]                                            URL: http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/                                            Summary: Enjoy your visit, and come back often - we will be continually       updating many areas. Please feel free to contact us if you are                interested in receiving more information about the Monarch Watch or are       interested in participating in the fall tagging.                              91% K12> Send a Monarch to Mexico! [More Like This]                           URL: http: //www.gi.net/NET/PM-1996/96-09/96-09-27/0045.html                  Summary: Joined by a fragile butterfly, shared hope will. Journey North       program will be featured, including beautiful footage.                        91% Journey North [More Like This]                                            URL: http://www.whro-pbs.org/LearningLink/monarchs.html                       Summary: Sometime next March, when the real monarchs' departure from          Mexico is announced, the paper butterflies will return to North America.      What materials are needed to make sure your monarch survives its journey      south, the winter months in Mexico, and its journey north next spring?        91% Untitled [More Like This]                                                 URL: http://www.bell-atl.com/wschool/html/announce/oct/oct2096.htm            Summary: The postage must be sufficient to mail the butterflies back to       you from the Journey North office in the U.S. (The monarchs will not be       mailed from Mexico, so either U.S. or Canadian postage is fine. Urqhuart      tagged the first monarchs 59 years ago--and graciously agreed to tag the      first paper monarchs for this symbolic migration!                             Check out our advertiser: Click Here                                          Excite Search found 926 documents about:                                      What:Where: [Help]                                                            [Advanced Search]                                                             Super-charge your browser with Excite Direct. Click here!                     1996 Excite Inc.                                                              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Click on `More Like This` to see more documents that pertain to your          search.                                                                       Excite Search is sponsored in part by Sun Microsystems and run on             10-CPU Ultra Enterprise 4000 servers.                                         Documents 11-20 sorted by confidence                                          91% Monarch Population Plummets in Mexico [More Like This]                    URL: http://www.isit.com/butterfly/articles/sendmon.htm                       Summary: Urqhuart tagged the first monarchs 59 years ago--and                 graciously agreed to tag the first paper monarchs for this symbolic           migration! All migratory monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains spend           the winter in just 9 major sanctuaries in Mexico!                             91% Monarch Population Plummets in Mexico [More Like This]                    URL: http://mgfx.com/butterfly/articles/sendmon.htm                           Summary: Or feel free to follow one of the designs found on Journey           North's WWW site at: http://www. Mail your butterflies in a large manila      envelope to: Journey North, 125 North First Street , Minneapolis,             Minnesota 55401 USA.                                                          90% Journey North program will be featured . . . [More Like This]             URL: http://archives.gsn.org/oct96/0042.html                                  Summary: http://www.freaknet.co.il:80/wwwboard/messages/147.html              90% Web gives students front-row seats for b . . . [More Like This]           URL: http://www.dispatch.com/news/newsfeatures/butterflies1112.html           Summary: Dispatch Schools Reporter November 12, 1996 Students in              Tine Gehres' science classes at Wedgewood Middle School watched the           summer slip away to Mexico on the wings of thousands of monarch               butterflies. They reported their sightings each day to the Journey            North site on the World Wide Web. That way, Gehres said, students             everywhere could plot sightings on a map and track the southward.             90% ZooNews - 12 July 96 [More Like This]                                     URL: http://www.cpb.uokhsc.edu/OKC/OKCZoo/zn/                                 ZooNew960912a.html                                                            Summary: The Monarch butterfly, also known as the milkweed butterfly,         is one of the world's most widely distributed butterflies and is one of       only a few that migrate north and south like birds do for the winter.         Monarchs that hatch and develop in the fall live longer and behave            differently than those hatched earlier in the year.                           90% Riley said the insects respond to the s . . . [More Like This]            URL: http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/wwwac/4nws1017.txt                              Summary: http://cedar.ag.uiuc.edu:8001/CropSci/weed-1ab/Bill/Bill.htm         90% Pismo Beach Guide - Monarch Butterflies [More Like This]                  URL: http://webmill.com/pismo/monarch                                         Summary: The Butterflies will form dense clusters on the trees, each          animal hanging with its wings down over the one below it to form a            shingle effect, that gives some shelter from the rain and warmth for the      group. If a Butterfly is dislodged it may fall victim to inserts or           field mice, since it cannot fly at temperatures much lower than 55            degrees, and at a temperature lower than 40 degrees, it is.                   90% "The Wanderer" [More Like This]                                           URL: http://www.adventure.com/library/encyclopedia/bug/rfimnarc.html          Summary: In another few weeks, more Monarchs mature from eggs that            were laid in other places on milkweed; they also start northward.             Migrating swarms of Monarchs may number in the tens of thousands              and there have been years when flocks have been estimated to contain          millions.                                                                     90% Monarch Butterfly Migration [More Like This]                              URL: http://genbiol.cbs.umn.edu/1009/1009h/monarchs.html                      Summary: Traveling in a southwesterly direction, the monarchs fly east        of the Great Lakes and south-southwest in areas west of the Great Lakes.      Presently, three sights along Ontario's great lakes have been designated      as butterfly reserves.                                                        90% THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY SANCTUARY, NATURAL . . .                            [More Like This]                                                              URL: http://www.mexico-travel.com/states/s16/132zz1.htm                       Summary: Urquhart put tags on the wings of some butterflies, and              followed their trails to Mexican territory, always motivated by the           question: Where do they spend the winter? However, the Monarch has an         important defense mechanism: they are toxic, and when eaten by birds,         they accelerate their cardiac rhythms causing death.                          Check out our advertiser: A Chance to Win a Free Kodak DC25 Camera            Excite Search found 926 documents about:                                      What:Where: [Help]                                                            [Advanced Search]                                                             Super-charge your browser with Excite Direct. 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[86%, 3 of 4 terms]                                      5) `Netting Butterflies [86%, 3 of 4 terms]                                   6)                                                                            gopher://gopher.irformns.k12.mn.us/00/best-k12/monarchs/                      %20%20Map%20The%20Mona [85%, 3 of 4 terms]                                    7) NHAS 10/94 [85%, 3 of 4 terms]                                             8) Newsletter Article (October, 1995): Fall Insects [84%, 3 of 4 terms]       9) MISC> Journey North [84%, 3 of 4 terms]                                    10) The Miracle of Migration [84%, 3 of 4 terms]                              11) Thirty Great Ideas for Family Fun In Santa Cruz County [83%, 3 of 4       terms]                                                                        12) Thirty Great Ideas for Family Fun [83%, 3 of 4 terms]                     13) Novae Group Discussion Archive: 03-17-96 NOVAE GROUP                      Monday's Posting [82%, 3 of 4 terms]                                          14) Endangered Species Images from Optilearn [79%, 3 of 4 terms]              15) Endangered Species Images from Optilearn [79%, 3 of 4 terms]              16) Regional Alliance Education Reform Network: Eisenhower Nat'l              Clearinghouse onl [79%, 3 of 4 terms]                                         17) Novae Group Discussion Archive: 02-11-3-4 NOVAE GROUP                     posting 3 out of 4 [79%, 3 of 4 terms]                                        18) OMIX Marketspace Directory [73%, 3 of 4 terms]                            19) Nation World [73%, 3 of 4 terms]                                          20) ITSS Digest [73%, 3 of 4 terms]                                           Previous Page Next Page                                                       Jump down the list: 1 a.a2                                                    Previous 10 Pages Next 10 Pages                                               Edit your search:                                                             Match all words Match any word                                                Click on graphic to visit site.                                               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    __________________________________________________________________________    Appendix H                                                                    __________________________________________________________________________    av01:                                                                             http://www.oit.itd.umich.edu/bio/doc.cgi/Arthropoda/Insecta/Lepidopter        a/Nymp                                                                        halidae/Danaus.sub.-- plexippus.ftl                                       av02:                                                                             http://dnr.state.il.us/NREDU/CLASSRM/symbol/insect.htm                    av03:                                                                             http://www.portland.net/ph/monews/story2.htm                              av04:                                                                             http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/parasitecontrol                              av05:                                                                             http://www.blake.pvt.k12.mn.us/campus/projects/upper/monarchs/research        /stein                                                                        er1.htm1                                                                  av06:                                                                             http: //www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/829680914.ht        ml                                                                        av07:                                                                             http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/829061947.htm        l                                                                         av08:                                                                             http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/827853714.htm        l                                                                         av09:                                                                             http://bvsd.k12.co.us/monarch.html                                        av10:                                                                             http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/826042770.htm        l                                                                         av11:                                                                             http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/migrtnhist.html                              av12:                                                                             http://www.blake.pvt.k12.mn.us/campus/projects/upper/monarchs/reports/        report                                                                        8.html                                                                    av13:                                                                             http://info.csd.org:70/WWW/schools/pattonville/insect.museum/butterfly        .html                                                                     av14:                                                                             http://genbiol.cbs.umn.edu/1009/1009h/monarchs.html                       av15:                                                                             http://dial.net/pismo/monarch                                             av16:                                                                             http://webmill.com/pismo/monarch                                          av17:                                                                             http://www.deepriver.com/adven/htm/181.htm                                av18:                                                                             http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/migration.html                               avl9:                                                                             http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/texasmw.html                                 ly01:                                                                             http://www.doesgodexist.org/JanFeb96/Monarch.html                         ly02:                                                                             http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/snow.html                                    ly03:                                                                             http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/Activity-Structures/Information-Collections/Poo        led-Data-                                                                     Analysis/Map-The-Monarchs.html                                            ly04:                                                                             http://riceinfo.rice.edu/armadillo/Ftbend/butterfly.html                  ly05:                                                                             http://compstat.wharton.upenn.edu:8001/˜siler/newhope/oct.html      ly06:                                                                             http://www.stolaf.edu/other/snap/nlinsects.html                           ly07:                                                                             http: //www.mid.net/NET/PM-1995/95-02/95-02-16/0017.html                  ly08:                                                                             http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/006migration/                               ly09:                                                                             http://www.steiny.com/sc/cvc/30.html                                      ly10:                                                                             http://www.infopoint.com/sc/cvc/30.html                                   ly11:                                                                             http://prism.prs.k12.nj.us/WWW/OII/disc-pub/novae-group/0067.html         ly12:                                                                             http://www.nceet.snre.umich.edu/EndSpp/Optilearn.html                     ly13:                                                                             http://nceet.snre.umich.edu/EndSpp/Optilearn.html                         ly14:                                                                             http://hub.terc.edu/ra/rns/ed-reform/postings/0514.html                   ly15:                                                                             http://prism.prs.k12.nj.us/WWW/OII/disc-pub/novae-group/0023.html         ly16:                                                                             http://www.sugomusic.com/marketspace.sub.-- dir/mindex.html               ly17:                                                                             http://detnews.com/menu/nati1231.htm                                      ly18:                                                                             http://www-leland.stanford.edu/group/itss/Org/Digest/Digest.sub.--            Jan5.sub.-- 96.html                                                       ex01:                                                                             http://home.forbin.com/˜gwinslow/travel.html                        ex02:                                                                             http://www.oise.on.ca/˜lasullivan/butterflies.html                  ex03:                                                                             http://www.tnc.org./infield/species/monarch/monarch.htm                   ex04:                                                                             http://www.deepriver.com/adven/htm/181.htm                                ex05:                                                                             http://hermes.ecn.purdue.edu:8001/gopher.sub.-- dir/The%20Purdue%20Coo        perative%                                                                     20Extension%20Gopher%20Information%20Server/Current%20News/Archives/9         6/Apr/04-26/OSL:%20Flies%20of%20the%20Butter%20Season                     ex06:                                                                             http://www.museum.state.il.us:70/exhibits/symbols/insect.html             ex07:                                                                             http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/                                             ex08:                                                                             http://www.gi.net/NET/PM-1996/96-09/96-09-27/0045.html                    ex09:                                                                             http://www.whro-pbs.org/LearningLink/monarchs.html                        ex10:                                                                             http://www.bell-atl.com/wschool/html/announce/oct/oct2096.htm             ex11:                                                                             http://www.isit.com/butterfly/articles/sendmon.htm                        ex12:                                                                             http://mgfx.com/butterfly/articles/sendmon.htm                            ex13:                                                                             http://archives.gsn.org/oct96/0042.html                                   ex14:                                                                             http://www.dispatch.com/news/newsfeatures/butterflies1112.html            ex15:                                                                             http://www.cpb.uokhsc.edu/OKC/OKCZoo/zn/ZooNew960912a.html                ex16:                                                                             http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/wwwac/4nws1017.txt                               ex17:                                                                             http://webmill.com/pismo/monarch                                          ex18:                                                                             http://www.adventure.com/library/encyclopedia/bug/rfimnarc.html           ex19:                                                                             http://genbiol.cbs.umn.edu/1009/1009h/monarchs.html                       ex20:                                                                             http://www.mexico-travel.com/states/s16/132zz1.htm                        __________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________    Appendix I                                                                    __________________________________________________________________________    1862, 6384                                                                          http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/Activity-Structures/Information-Collections/P          ooled-                                                                        Data-Analysis/Map-The-Monarchs.html                                           Score: 4.50772                                                          1418, 1468                                                                          http://dnr.state.il.us/NREDU/CLASSRM/symbol/insect.htm                        Score: 3.3608                                                           759, 1239                                                                           http://www.museum.state.il.us:70/exhibits/symbols/insect.html                 Score: 2.03616                                                          2235, 2491                                                                          http://hermes.ecn.purdue.edu:8001/gopher.sub.-- dir/The%20Purdue%20C          ooper                                                                         ative%20Extension%20Gopher%20Information%20Server/Current%20Ne                ws/Archives/96/Apr/04-26/OSL:%20Flies%20of%20the%20Butter%20Season            Score: 1.50753                                                          1862, 1972                                                                          http://www.mid.net/NET/PM-1995/95-02/95-02-16/0017.html                       Score: 1.35457                                                          8122, 8245                                                                          http://www.oit.itd.umich.edu/bio/doc.cgi/Arthropoda/Insecta/Leidopte          ra/                                                                           Nymphalidae/Danaus.sub.-- plexippus.ftl                                       Score: 1.34016                                                          729, 801                                                                            http://home.forbin.com/˜gwinslow/travel.html                            Score: 1.20644                                                          2944, 3086                                                                          http:/monarch.bio.ukans.edu/snow.html                                         Score: 1.03585                                                          30, 1360                                                                            http://www.deepriver.com/adven/htm/181.htm                                    Score: 0.892374                                                         6329, 6598                                                                          http://riceinfo.rice.edu/armadillo/Ftbend/butterfly.html                      Score: 0.882793                                                         39,645                                                                              http://www.blake.pvt.k12.mn.us/campus/projects/upper/monarchs/resear          ch/                                                                           steiner1.html                                                                 Score: 0.851319                                                         876, 1326                                                                           http://www.oise.on.ca/˜lasullivan/butterflies.html                      Score: 0.460421                                                         331, 510                                                                            http://www.stolaf.edu/other/snap/nlinsects.html                               Score: 0.46026                                                          324, 1225                                                                           http://www.doesgodexist.org/JanFeb96/Monarch.html                             Score: 0.258716                                                         3469,3636                                                                           http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/829061947.h          tml                                                                           Score: 0.224219                                                         32,429                                                                              http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/parasitecontrol                                  Score: 0.151446                                                         3031, 3840                                                                          http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/˜jnorth/critters/monarch/829680914.h          tml                                                                           Score: 0.0425499                                                        __________________________________________________________________________

    ______________________________________                                        Appendix J                                                                    ______________________________________                                        STATE INSECT - MONARCH BUTTERFLY Danaus plexippus                             The monarch was chosen in 1975 to be Illinois' state insect. The third        grade classes at Dennis School in Decatur originally recommended the          species.                                                                      The monarch undergoes four changes in form (metamorphoses) during its         lifetime. It begins as a tiny egg. In its second stage it becomes a           black, yellow and white striped caterpillar (larva). During this stage,       the monarch caterpillar sheds its skin (molts) up to four times as it         grows to its full length of about 2 inches. The monarch larva feeds only      on the milkweed plant. Luckily for the larvae, the juices of the              milkweed make the larvae taste terrible to birds and they rarely get          eaten. In the third stage, the monarch forms a protective covering            called a chrysalis (pupa). This pupa is shiny and green with gold             speckles. During this time the monarch undergoes its final change. When       it emerges from its sac, out comes a beautiful black and orange monarch       butterfly. This entire process takes about a month. There are usually         three to four generations of monarchs produced each year.                     While most insects hibernate, the monarch is the only species of              butterfly which actually flies to warmer weather (migrates) in winter.        Monarchs from Illinois spend their winters in California and Mexico. In       the fall, people have reported seeing entire trees covered with               thousands of migrating monarchs! However, only about 1 percent of these       monarchs actually survive the journey back to Illinois.                       Back                                                                          Almost America's national butterfly,                                          the flamboyant Monarch is among the best-known butterflies.                   Burnt orange, up to 4 inches across with black                                markings, Monarchs can be found virtually anywhere in the United States.      Besides making the Monarch beautiful to watch, its orange color serves        another purpose. Butterfly wings display an array of disguises to             confuse predators. One of the most effective defenses, demonstrated so        famously by the monarch, is the display of bright colors to signify           distastefulness. Monarchs favor nectar from the poisonous milkweek            plant. That makes monarchs untasty, and birds learn this early on,            avoiding monarchs and other butterflies (such as viceroys) that look          like them.                                                                    The Monarch is the only butterfly that annually migrates both north and       south. In late September, for instance, they begin to congregate at           Cache River Joint Wetlands Project in Illinois, a Conservancy preserve,       and move southward for their annual migration.                                By October, they've flown hundreds of miles.                                  Millions of Monarch butterflies return to their                               winter habitat in Mexico via the Devils River Corridor, which flows           through the heart of Dolan Ranch Preserve in Texas. Monarchs continue         south to the Sierra Madre of Mexico, where they spend the winter. By          January, the Mexican fir trees and mountainsides are full of Monarchs,        drifting, gliding, fluttering and basking.                                    But no individual makes the entire round-trip journey. As they head           north in spring, Monarchs breed along the way and their offspring return      to the starting point. Still the Monarch is among the longest-lived           butterflies, lasting about 10 months between chrysalis and the day it         dies.                                                                         Photo Credits                                                                 Monarch Butterfly (c) Terry Cook                                              Copyright - 1996, The Nature Conservancy.                                     ______________________________________                                    

    ______________________________________                                        APPENDIX K                                                                    Result #2                                                                     Ranking: 3.3608                                                               From: dnr.state.il.us                                                         Found with: Alta Vista                                                        While most insects hibernate, the monarch is the only species of              butterfly which actually flies to warmer weather (migrates) in winter.        Monarchs from Illinois spend their winters in California and Mexico. In       the fall, people have reported seeing entire trees covered with               thousands of migrating monarchs! However, only about 1 percent of these       monarchs actually survive the journey back to Illinois.                       Result #3                                                                     Ranking: 2.47543                                                              From: www.tnc.org.                                                            Found with: Excite                                                            The Monarch is the only butterfly that annually migrates both north and       south. In late September, for instance, they begin to congregate at           Cache River Joint Wetlands Project in Illinois, a Conservancy preserve,       and move southward for their annual migration. By October, they've            flown hundreds of miles. Millions of Monarch butterflies return to their      winter habitat in Mexico via the Devils River Corridor, which flows           through the heart of Dolan Ranch Preserve in Texas. Monarchs continue         south to the Sierra Madre of Mexico, where they spend the winter. By          January, the Mexican fir trees and mountainsides are full of Monarchs,        drifting, gliding, fluttering and basking.                                    ______________________________________                                    

We claim:
 1. A method of locating information in at least oneinformation source using at least one search engine, comprising thesteps of:(i) accepting a natural language query describing desiredinformation; (ii) parsing said natural language query to extract termsrelevant to said desired information; (iii) creating search datacomprising at least two search candidates from said extracted terms in aform appropriate to each of said at least one search engine, andtransferring said created search data to said each of said at least onesearch engine to initiating a search; (iv) receiving search resultscomprising at least one list of information sources from said each ofsaid at least one search engine, and removing redundancies from said atleast one list of information sources to obtain a reduced list ofinformation sources; (v) retrieving complete copies of each informationsource in said reduced list; (vi) examining each said retrieved completecopy relative to said at least two search candidates to determine amatch ranking therefor by:(a) arranging each said complete copy intosegments, each segment defining the contents of said document between atleast three consecutive matches between said complete copy and any ofsaid at least two search candidates; (b) examining each segment in saidcomplete copy to determine a segment score comprising a score for eachmatch between the contents of said complete copy and each searchcandidate, and weighting said segment score with respect to the lengthof said segment; (c) selecting at least two segments of said completecopy with the highest weighted segment scores from step (b); (d) foreach selected segment, augmenting the segment to include the contents ofsaid complete copy between the selected segment and an adjacent matchand performing step (b) for each augmented segment to obtain an updatedsegment score; (e) while said updated segment score for an augmentedsegment is greater than said segment store, performing step (d); (f)selecting said augmented segment with the highest updated segment scorefrom each said complete copy; and (g) ranking the selected augmentedsegments for each said complete copy according to said updated segmentscores; (vii) selecting at least the highest ranked selected augmentedsegment for display to the user, and editing each said at least highestranked selected segment to form a complete segment by examining thebeginning and end of said segment and adding or removing adjacentcontent of said complete copy to form a substantially grammaticallycorrect segment; and (viii) providing said each said substantiallygrammatically correct segment to said user.
 2. The method as defined inclaim 1 wherein step (vii) further comprises the step of removingpredefined formatting information from said segment.
 3. The method asclaimed in claim 2 wherein said formatting information comprises HTMLtags.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein step (vii), said completesegments comprise at least one complete sentence.
 5. The method of claim1 where in step (vii), said complete segments comprise at least onecomplete paragraph.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least oneinformation source comprises an HTML formatted document.
 7. The methodof claim 6 wherein said at least one information source is accessiblevia a telecommunications network.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein saidat least one search engine is accessible via a telecommunicationsnetwork.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein at least first and secondretrieved complete copies are obtained, said first complete retrievedcopy being obtained from a first location connected to saidtelecommunications network and said second complete retrieved copy beingobtained from a second location connected to said telecommunicationsnetwork.
 10. The method of claim 6 wherein at least first and secondsearch engines are employed, said first search engine being located at afirst location connected to said telecommunications network and saidsecond search engine being located at a second location connected tosaid telecommunications network.
 11. The method of claim 6 wherein saidat least one information source is located on a computer network. 12.The method of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of informationsources, each information source being located on said computer network.13. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one search engine islocated on said computer network.